Congo, Democratic Republic Of

School meals: not a hand-out

Copyright: WFP/Jacques David)

School Meals Cutbacks - The View From One DRC School

In 2014, funding constraints obliged WFP to reduce the reach of its school feeding programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Only school children in conflict-affected areas of the country are now receiving WFP school meals. Children in other parts of DRC now have to study as best they can without a daily hot school meal. Thierry, from the Don Bosco primary school in Goma’s suburbs in eastern DRC, tells us about the consequences these cutbacks will have on the country’s school children.

Overview

The situation in one of the poorest and least developed nations on earth is being complicated by a variety of factors including ongoing conflict in the east, a continuing crisis in the neighboring Central Africa Republic and mounting political tensions ahead of planned presidential elections in 2016.

Since April 2013, WFP has been implementing a food-for-work project in four camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) around Goma. Participants help to produce fuel briquettes as a substitute for charcoal and firewood. The project, which targets IDPs as well as locals living around the camps, aims to reduce deforestation, improve the livelihoods of the poor and stop attacks on women collecting firewood in the bush.